Mobey Forum Claims That There Is A Case For NFC Mobile Payments And Shows The Market How To Implement

HELSINKI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mobey Forum has released a white paper entitled ‘Business Models for NFC Payments’, which highlights what needs to happen to make NFC contactless mobile payments at the point of sale (POS) a mass market reality. As NFC technology continues to gain momentum, the study demonstrates how stakeholders can assess different implementation options, define the business case and roles that will meet their requirements and establish a clear go to market strategy with essential partnerships.

This latest white paper from Mobey Forum, the global bank-led industry association defining a prosperous mobile financial services landscape, aims to ultimately speed up the development and use of NFC technology for payments. The paper analyses the current ecosystem and showcases different types of technology and deployment strategies, explaining how these can be assessed to identify the implementation model that best aligns with a stakeholder’s commercial needs.

This document will be of interest to all financial institutions, mobile network operators, handset manufacturers, operating system providers and any technical vendors operating in the NFC environment.

Jordi Guaus, Chair of the Mobey Forum Business Workgroup and Head of Mobile Payments at “la Caixa”, comments: “The study acknowledges that customer demand for NFC services will grow substantially in the near term, presenting businesses with profitable opportunities. The marketplace, however, still has a lot to do to ensure NFC payment reaches its potential. There are many implementation models to choose from requiring payment service providers and other stakeholders to make significant business decisions today about an emerging ecosystem that is evolving rapidly.”

Guaus states that from a business standpoint, the convergence of many different markets to deliver NFC payments, and the complexity of these new commercial relationships, has created a barrier to widespread deployment. He adds: “This white paper addresses many of the issues faced by businesses as it provides readers with the information required to decide which implementation model will meet their commercial requirements. During our work we established that it is possible to define the business case for any implementation model by examining factors such as revenues and expenditures, costs relating to issuing processes and lifecycle management, and recognising other key benefits such as customer retention. This will speed-up and inspire confidence in the decision-making process.”

In addition to detailing four approaches to implementing NFC based on potential business models, the white paper offers a gap analysis on what the industry still needs to achieve. This includes technical interoperability and the establishment of a trusted model by developing defined certification processes that meet the needs of all stakeholders.

Guaus concludes: “We still do not know which implementation model will be preferred by the end-user and this creates many unknown factors. What we do know is that NFC payments will become a reality and all actors within this space need to be prepared, even if they do not plan to roll out implementations straightaway. We believe our white paper offers a great starting place.”

To download the Business Models for NFC Payments white paper without charge, visit www.mobeyforum.org.

Leading banks, payment schemes and service companies have all contributed to the white paper, including: American Express, CellPoint Mobile, DnB NOR, European Payments Council, ING, “la Caixa”, NCR, Nokia, Nordea, Royal Bank of Scotland and Visa Inc.

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About Mobey Forum

Mobey Forum is the global leader in defining a sustainable and prosperous mobile financial services ecosystem. Established in 2000, it brings together leading financial institutions, mobile network operators, mobile handset manufacturers and payment processors and vendors, committed to accelerating the mass-market deployment of user-friendly mobile financial services by promoting open and secure technology standards.